Web based, on-line system and method for assessing, monitoring and modifying behavioral characteristic

ABSTRACT

A system and method for interactively assessing at least one characteristic of a user on-line, developing a personal growth strategy and monitoring the person&#39;s progress with respect to the personal growth strategy.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention is directed to a system and method ofassessing, monitoring and modifying at least one characteristic of auser on-line, and, more particularly, to a system and method thatinteractively monitors, and coaches a user in developing and achieving apersonal growth plan, as well as a system and method that interacts witha user to assist the user in maintaining activities that foster personalgrowth either in the abstract or in accordance with a personal growthplan.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Various tools or inventories have been developed to determinebehavioral characteristics. The term “characteristic” refers to avariety of things that may be referred to as a profile or style, such asa person's creativity, analytical ability, risk taking level, etc. Thesetools are helpful in making a person aware of particular strengths andweaknesses associated with the determined characteristic. Organizations,such as an employer, also find such tools helpful in assessingcharacteristics of particular individuals that can affect the way thoseindividuals contribute to the success of the organization. In addition,such tools can be helpful in determining what characteristics aredesired in order to achieve success for a particular individual ororganization.

[0003] An example of such a tool is a Creatrix Inventory developed bythe Richard Byrd Company. The Creatrix Inventory is designed to helppeople identify their levels of creativity, i.e., the degree to whichthey can produce unconventional ideas, as well as their assertion towardrisk taking, i.e., high, moderate or low.

[0004] The Creatrix Inventory consists of multiple statements to whichan individual responds by indicating his or her degree of agreement ordisagreement with the statement. Half of these statements are based onliterature about risk taking, and half are based on literature aboutcreativity. After an individual completes the inventory, he or shescores it according to the directions provided and then plots the scoreson a matrix called the Creatrix. The vertical scale of this matrixdesignates the degree to which the respondent is a risk taker; thehorizontal scale designates the degree of the respondent's creativeabilities.

[0005] The Creatrix is divided into eight zones, each of whichrepresents a creativity/risk-taking orientation: Sustainer, Modifier,Challenger, Practicalizer, Innovator, Synthesizer, Dreamer, and Planner.These different orientations can be useful in understanding thedifferences among people within work groups. For example, when groupmembers discuss the impact of their different orientations on planning,decision making, and problem solving, they can develop a clearerperception of the group's resources. Identifying orientations also canbe helpful in career-counseling and career-development efforts, in teambuilding, enhancing one's self-understanding and in changing an entireorganization's culture. Of course, other types of inventories exist tomeasure other characteristics of a person or organization.

[0006] Typically these kinds of tools are applied manually with anadminister handing out individual forms that need to be filled out,scored, and returned. With the advent of computers and the Internet, itis desirable to replace the paper and pen method with a computerizedone.

[0007] A system has been designed where an individual can access theCreatrix Inventory over the Internet and take the inventory. After theuser takes the inventory, information about that user's behavioralcharacteristic is displayed to the user based on the informationsupplied by the individual.

[0008] Often, however, finding out about one's behavioral characteristicis only the first step. Often an individual desires to have a differentcharacteristic, i.e. a targeted characteristic, that may have certainstrengths the user desires or lacks certain weakness that may be presentin the user's current characteristic. It would be desirable to provideassistance to the user, particularly over the Internet, to interactivelydevelop and monitor a personal growth plan for that individual. Also, itis desirable to interactively provide the user with a selection of aidesthat are tailored to allow the user to achieve the targeted profile. Inaddition, it is desirable to provide interactive feedback to a user'sselection of aides that may assist in achieving the plan. And finally,it is desirable to provide the user with motivational aides that assistthe user to perform activities that are beneficial to that user'spersonal growth.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided amethod of interactively assessing a user's current profile anddeveloping a personal growth strategy on-line to achieve a targetprofile. The method includes the steps of:

[0010] (a) electronically displaying an inventory questionnaire to auser via a display unit;

[0011] (b) electronically receiving inputs from the user regarding theinventory questionnaire;

[0012] (c) electronically generating a growth strategy matrix based onthe inputs received from the user wherein the growth strategy matrixreflects the user's current profile; and

[0013] (d) electronically receiving input from the user regarding thetargeted profile the user wishes to adopt.

[0014] In addition, the method also includes the step of electronicallygenerating options from which the user can select at least one of aplurality of aids to assist the user in achieving the targeted profile.

[0015] According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provideda system for interactively assessing a user's current profile anddeveloping a personal growth strategy on-line to achieve a targetprofile. The system includes:

[0016] a computing device; and

[0017] a computer program comprising one or more program modulesexecutable by the computing device wherein the program module comprises;

[0018] a module for displaying an inventory questionnaire to a user viaa display unit;

[0019] a module for receving inputs from the user regarding theinventory questionnaire;

[0020] a module of generating a growth strategy matrix based on inputsreceived from the user wherein the growth strategy matrix reflects theuser's current profile;

[0021] a module for receiving input from the user regarding the targetedprofile the user wishes to adopt; and

[0022] a module for generating options from which the user can select atleast one of a plurality of aids to assist the user in achieving thetargeted profile.

[0023] According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided acomputer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions forcarrying out the inventive method.

[0024] According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provideda computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave readable by acomputing system and encoding a computer program of instructions forexecuting a computer process performing the inventive method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025]FIG. 1 is a schematic of a system and method for interactivelyassessing at least one characteristic of an individual's personality,interactively developing a personal growth plan and monitoring theindividual's progress along the plan.

[0026]FIG. 2 is a detailed schematic of the flow of communicationbetween a user and a counselor using the system shown in FIG. 1.

[0027]FIG. 3 is a schematic of a system and method for assessing anygaps between a company's expected profile and its employees' results.

[0028]FIG. 4 is a graph of risk taking ability versus severalcategories.

[0029]FIG. 5 is a graph of creativity versus several categories.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0030]FIG. 1 is a schematic of a system and method for interactivelyassessing at least one characteristic of an individual's personality,developing a personal growth plan and monitoring the individual'sprogress along that plan. As previously mentioned, the term“characteristic” can refer to a variety of things, such as a person'screativity, analytical ability, etc. In the illustrative examples thatwill be described, two characteristics are assessed, a person'screativity and a person's level of risk taking. It is to be understoodthat the present invention is not limited to a particular tool butrather is directed to affecting behavioral changes of any type such asweight loss, quit smoking or assertiveness training, for example.

[0031] The system 10 includes a plurality of users 12 preferably locatedat computer terminals, a plurality of coaches 14 preferably located atcomputer terminals that are located remotely from the user, at least onedatabase 18 and a communication infrastructure 16 for interconnectingall of these elements. Preferably the communication infrastructure 16 isthe Internet although other infrastructures may be used such as privatenetworks, intranets, ethernets, etc. Preferably, the computer terminalsutilized by the users 12 and coaches 14 may have video conferencingcapability so that interactive real time communication can beestablished between a user and a coach. Alternatively, the communicationbetween a user and coach can be established over a voice line and still,alternatively, the communication may not be real-time but, instead,established through messages typed at the keyboards of the computerterminals.

[0032] In addition, the user may be equipped with a smart device 13 thatprovides prompts to motivate the user to initiate an activity. The smartdevice 13 may be coupled to a user's terminal 12 or it may be astandalone device or it may be coupled to telecommunication lines. Thesmart device 13 may also measure a user's compliance with respect toactivities forming part of that user's personal growth plan or withrespect to suggested activities. The smart device 13 is preferablydesigned to catch the user's attention. For example, the smart device 13may be a CDROM that when loaded in the user's terminal 12 displaysprompts on the screen that attract the user's attention. For example,the smart device 13 could be a program that when the user logs onto hisor her terminal, or whatever frequency is desired, the user is facedwith a prompt perhaps suggesting an activity the e user should undertakeand the user must respond to that prompt, for example by typing aresponse. The smart device downloads the response to a database whichcan then be used to monitor the user's compliance. For example, a lawyermay be prompted to make sure his or her time sheet from the previous dayhas been completed. In addition, if a personal growth plan has beendevised using the present invention which will be described in detailhereinafter, the user may receive messages that require the user torespond to his or her progress. For example, if a part of the personalgrowth plan is to read a certain book, some designated period of timelater, the user may be prompted as to whether he or she has completedthe task of reading that book. The user would respond and data stored inthe database concerning the user's progress would be updated.

[0033]FIG. 2 is a detailed schematic of the flow of communicationbetween a user and coach using the system shown in FIG. 1. As previouslymentioned, the method 100 preferably utilizes the Internet as acommunication vehicle between the individual users and the coaches. In apreferred embodiment, a user 112 logs onto a website which supports themethod 100 of the present invention. Various security measures can betaken such as providing the user with a password and logon name. Afterlogging on, the user is presented with the option of taking an inventory114. If a user has already taken an inventory and a personal growth planhas been created, then the user may be presented with an additionaloption of measuring his or her progress. In this preferred embodiment,the inventory is a Creatrix Inventory although the present invention isnot limited to a particular inventory.

[0034] The Creatrix Inventory 114 presents a plurality of items orstatements that the individual must rate on a scale ranging fromcomplete disagreement to complete agreement. The user preferably usesthe keyboard (not shown) associated with the user's terminal to respondto each item. Alternatively, other forms of responses may be used suchas voice activated responses or touch screen inputs may be accepted.After the user rates each item of the inventory, the ratings are talliedand a score is calculated. Preferably the method of the inventionresides in software stored at a site such as a server 20 (see FIG. 1)coupled to the communication infrastructure 16. The software has theappropriate algorithms to compute the score from the user's responses.Based upon the score, a profile 116 is assigned. In a preferredembodiment, one of the following profiles 116 may be assigned:sustainer, modifier, planner, practicalizer, challenger, synthesizer,innovator or dreamer. Each profile has a different level of risk takingand creativity associated therewith. From the assigned profile, a matrix118 is displayed on the display associated with the user's terminal. Thematrix 118 is a growth strategy matrix which has the various profilesplotted on the vertical 115 and horizontal axes 117. The user's currentprofile is indicated where that profile intersects along the horizontaland vertical axes as shown at 119.

[0035] In this particular example, the user scored as having a“challenger” behavioral characteristic. The matrix also shows where theother profiles fall with respect to one another on the matrix. This ishelpful to give the user an idea of what is a reasonable target profilein view of the user's current profile. For example, a user may find outthat his or her current profile is that of a challenger 119. The usermay not like the fact that a hindrance associated with the challengerprofile is that they may destroy where destruction is not necessary.From the chart the user can see that with some work, he or she couldbecome a practicalizer 121 or synthesizer 123. If the user wanted tobecome a sustainer 125 that would be an unrealistic goal since it isvery remote from the user's current profile 119. The user is promptedwith a preliminary prompt 122 to make a selection of a differentprofile. Thus, if a user did make a selection that was not realistic, heor she would be prompted with advice 120 on making realistic choices,i.e., be clear about goals and move incrementally. Otherwise, the user'sresponse would be accepted. The advice 20 may come from a live personwho is displayed to the user through a web camera, for example. Thus, auser's current profile may be that of a challenger 119 and with helpfrom advice, a growth plan can be devised to change the current profileto that of a practicalizer 121, for example.

[0036] Once the target profile 121 is selected, a personal growth planneeds to be created to help the user achieve the targeted profile. Ahost of appropriate aides 124 are presented to the user for selection.The selection of aides displayed to the user is unique for thatparticular user since the aides are selected based upon the user'scurrent characteristic. Preferably, the host of aides 124 are presentedat the user's computer terminal display. The host of aides 124 availablemay include books 126, simulations 128, speeches 130, creative methods132, training 134 as well as online coaching 136, for example. In apreferred embodiment, a chat room 137 is provided that allows the userto log onto an on-line coaching room. In that coaching room the user canchat on-line with a coach about the user's selections. From theinterchange between the user and coach, a final plan/schedule 138 iscreated listing the aides the user should use to achieve his or hertargeted profile. Alternatively, a user may communicate with a coach ina non-real-time environment. For example, the user may post a request orquestion, the coach would respond and such a communication wouldcontinue in a post, response, post format. This final plan/schedule 138is stored in a memory such as database 18 and each time the user logson, the final plan/schedule for that user is retrieved.

[0037] It is not only important to assess at least one characteristic ofthe user and develop a personal growth strategy for that individual, itis also important to monitor the user's progress in achieving the user'stargeted profile. In order to do that, a progress inventory is alsoprovided. More specifically, when the user logs onto the website he orshe is presented with the option of either taking the program inventory114 or monitoring their progress 144, assuming they have already takenthe initial inventory. Preferably the user is presented with this dualoption only after he or she has completed the inventory a first time andhas made progress in his/her development. More preferably, the user andcoach agree upon the progress made before the user is allowed to take asecond inventory. Thus, until the user has taken an inventory, he or shewill only be presented with the option to take the inventory.

[0038] If the user selects the second option 144, i.e., monitoring hisor her progress, the user's final plan/schedule 138 is retrieved andpresented to a coach 136. The coach and user are preferably chattingon-line in the chat room 137. The coach can ask the user generalquestions 140, questions specific to the user's plan and/or questionsspecific to that user. The coach creates a progress report 142 based onthe answers provided and updates the progress inventory. The progressreport can be updated daily, weekly or monthly depending on thefrequency the user accesses the website to monitor his or her progress.

[0039] A progress report 144 is developed and displayed to the user. Theprogress report may include suggestions for achieving the user'spersonal growth plan. Periodically the user can retake the inventory tosee if their profile has changed to the targeted profile therebyindicating whether the user has succeeded or not. If the user hassucceeded, the user may want to select a new profile as a target profileand have a new personal growth profile developed to assist the user inachieving that new target profile.

[0040] In addition, as previously mentioned, the system and method ofthe present invention may also be equipped with a smart device thatprovides motivational prompts to a user to initiate an activity as wellas monitors the user's compliance either with the developed personalgrowth plan of with suggested activities. For example, the smart devicecould be a microprocessor that is programmed to interact with a user ata selected frequency. The provider that manages the system and method ofthe present invention can program and manage the smart device eitheronline or, if the smart device is a standalone device, the provider cansend the code on physical medium such as a diskette or CDROM to the userwho can then load it into the smart device.

[0041] The smart device may be programmed with prompts that are relatedto the developed personal growth plan for a particular user.Alternatively, the smart device can be programmed to prompt the userregarding other issues. FIG. 4 is a graph of a user's risk taking levelversus several categories namely authenticity, resiliency andself-acceptance. FIG. 5 is a graph of a user's creativity versus severalcategories, namely uniqueness, independence, inner-directedness andambiguity. The smart device can be programmed to monitor any one or allof these categories. Thus, the user may be prompted with a question thatis designed to measure that user's level of self-acceptance. The userwould respond to that prompt and that response would be stored in adatabase. The smart device can be programmed so that it can monitor theuser's compliance by prompting the user at a desired frequency, i.e.daily, weekly, monthly, etc.

[0042] The smart device can be any medium on which a signal can bedisplayed. In addition, the smart device can be an electronic or opticaldevice which is activated by a signal to provide a prompt to a user.

[0043]FIG. 3 is a schematic of a system and method 200 for assessinggaps between a company's expected profile 202 and its actual profile204. This process is helpful to measure a company's expectations versusits resources. As previously described, an employee can log onto awebsite and take an inventory. The employee's current profile is mappedagainst a graph 206 of creativity versus risk taking. Thus, as describedpreviously, the employee is assigned one of a plurality of profiles.Simultaneously or at a separate time, an expected profile graph 208 isgenerated for the company. For example, a chief executive officer 210may envision the company that is predominately one of a challenger andthe profiles of the individuals within the company is that of a planner,there is an obvious gap. In addition, others within the company such asa board 212 or individuals responsible for company strategies 214 maydefine the expected profile the company by taking the inventory. Ananalysis of the gap is performed and a company growth profile, similarto a user's is developed. Steps similar to those performed with theindividual as shown in FIG. 2 are applicable to the company scenariodescribed with respect to FIG. 3.

[0044] The above specification, examples and data provide a completedescription of the manufacture and use of the invention. Since manyembodiments of the invention can be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claimshereinafter appended.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of interactively assessing a user'scurrent profile and developing a personal growth strategy on-line toachieve a target profile, the method comprising the steps of: (a)electronically displaying an inventory questionnaire to a user via adisplay unit; (b) electronically receiving inputs from the userregarding the inventory questionnaire; (c) electronically generating agrowth strategy matrix based on the inputs received from the userwherein the growth strategy matrix reflects the user's current profile;and (d) electronically receiving input from the user regarding thetargeted profile the user wishes to adopt.
 2. The method of claim 2further comprising a step (e) of electronically generating options fromwhich the user can select at least one of a plurality of aids to assistthe user in achieving the targeted profile.
 3. The method of claim 1further comprising a step (f) of electronically dispensing advice to theuser if the input received in step (d) is unrealistic.
 4. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising steps of: (f) coupling the user with acounselor in real-time wherein the counselor and user can discuss theuser's progress.
 5. The method of claim 4 further comprising a step of:(g) generating a progress report based on the discussions had in step(f).
 6. The method of claim 5 further comprising a step of: (h)displaying to the user the progress report generated in step (g).
 7. Asystem for interactively assessing a user's current profile anddeveloping a personal growth strategy on-line to achieve a targetprofile, the system comprising: a computing device; and a computerprogram comprising one or more program modules executable by thecomputing device wherein the program module comprise; a module fordisplaying an inventory questionnaire to a user via a display unit; amodule for receiving inputs from the user regarding the inventoryquestionnaire; a module for generating a growth strategy matrix based oninputs received from the user wherein the growth strategy matrixreflects the user's current profile; a module for receiving input fromthe user regarding the targeted profile the user wishes to adopt; and amodule for generating options from which the user can select at leastone of a plurality of aids to assist the user in achieving the targetedprofile.
 8. A computer-readable medium having computer-executableinstructions for the method recited in claim
 1. 9. A computer datasignal embodied in a carrier wave readable by a computing system andencoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computerprocess performing the method recited in claim
 1. 10. A system forinteractively assessing a user's current profile and developing apersonal growth strategy on-line to achieve a target profile, the systemcomprising: (a) means for displaying an inventory questionnaire to auser via a display unit; (b) means for receiving inputs from the userregarding the inventory questionnaire; (c) means for generating a growthstrategy matrix based on the inputs received from the user wherein thegrowth strategy matrix reflects the user's current profile; (d) meansfor receiving input from the user regarding the targeted profile theuser wishes to adopt; and (e) means for generating options form whichthe user can select at least one of a plurality of aids to assist theuser in achieving the targeted profile.
 11. A computer usable mediumhaving computer readable program code means embodies therein for causingan interactive on-line session between a user and a coach, the computerreadable program code means in said computer program product comprising:computer readable program code means for causing a computer to displayof an inventory questionnaire to a user via a display unit; computerreadable program code means for causing a computer to receive inputsfrom the user regarding the inventory questionnaire; computer readableprogram code means for causing a computer to generate a growth strategymatrix based on inputs received from the user wherein the growthstrategy matrix reflects the user's current profile; computer readableprogram code means for causing a computer to receive input from the userregarding the targeted profile the user wishes to adopt; and computerreadable program code means for causing a computer to generate optionsfrom which the user can select at least one of a plurality of aids toassist the user in achieving the targeted profile.
 12. A system forinteractively assessing a user's current profile and developing apersonal growth strategy on-line to achieve a target profile, the systemcomprising: a server coupled to a communication infrastructure; and adatabase coupled to the server, wherein the server is programmed todisplay an inventory questionnaire to a user via a display unit, receiveinputs from the user regarding the inventory questionnaire, generate agrowth strategy matrix based on the inputs received from the userwherein the growth strategy matrix reflects the user's current profile,receive input from the user regarding the targeted profile the userwishes to adopt, and generate options from which the user can select atleast one of a plurality of aids to assist the user in achieving thetargeted profile.
 13. A smart device for prompting a user and monitoringthe user's compliance, the device comprising: a memory for storingcomputer executable code; a computer program loaded in the memorywherein the computer program causes the smart device to generate promptsat a specified frequency; and means coupled to the computer program thatreceive the prompt and generate a signal to the user that a prompt hasbeen generated.
 14. The smart device of claim 13 wherein the means isany medium on which a signal can be displayed.
 15. The smart device ofclaim 13 wherein the means is a computer screen and the signal causes adisplay to be displayed on the screen.
 16. The smart device of claim 13wherein the means is an electronic or optical device and the signalcauses the device to prompt the user.
 17. The smart device of claim 13wherein the means is a telephone and the signal causes the telephone toring.